Privacy Policy

“Privacy” seems to be highly prized these days. That’s why I cobbled together a privacy policy for A Catholic Citizen in America.

I also talked a bit about my view of “privacy,” and gave links to related Wikipedia pages.


Privacy policy

About Me and This Blog

My name is Brian H. Gill. I live in Sauk Centre, Minnesota. A Catholic Citizen in America is my blog. My blog’s website address is brendans-island.com/catholic-citizen.

Personal Data

It’s complicated.

If you leave a comment on this blog, its software collects data shown in the comments form, and also your IP address and browser user agent string. This is done to help with spam detection.

I’m told that this is how it works —

Comments and your email address

An anonymized string created from your email address, it’s also called a hash, may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

If you have commented on a post before, and I approved it (which I will, unless it’s spam) the next time you make a comment using the same name and email, this blog’s software will recognize you and approve your comment immediately.

Subscription and your email address

If you subscribe to A Catholic Citizen in America’s posts or comments, you will receive notifications of new posts or comments by email.

The “Notify me of new comments via email” and “Notify me of new posts via email” checkboxes are on the Comment form:

Image of A Catholic Citizen in America's comment form, showing 'Notify me of new comments via email' and 'Notify me of new comments via email' checkboxes.
(Note: This is an image of the comment form, not the real thing.)

If you subscribe, this blog’s software will ask for your email address, and retain it. It is an automated process. The software sends you a message when I post something new here.

If you subscribed to this blog by email only — before February, 2020 — I have access to your email address. But I do not use it: and I do not share it with others.

Cookies?

My blog’s software uses cookies. They verify that I’m me, and that you’re you, when we’re here. If you’re okay with that, and keep reading, I’ll try to make it worth your time.

Cookies are little bits of information. You can decide how to treat them, since they’re stored on your device.

Cookies have been used on much if not most of the Internet since the 1990s.

Some advertisers use cookies, too. (More about cookies on Wikipedia (HTTP cookie)

(The European Union used to have a resource discussing cookies: “EU Internet Handbook”. Maybe they still do. You can try looking at European Union: Your gateway to the European Union (european-union.europa.eu [English].))

Embedded Content From Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves the same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics

This blog uses Automattic’s Akismet Anti-Spam and Jetpack by WordPress.com. (akismet.com, jetpack.com)

Automattic’s Cookie Policy is here: automattic.com/cookies/. Automattic’s Privacy Policy is here: automattic.com/privacy/.

Akismet’s privacy policy is here: akismet.com/privacy/. Akismet Anti-Spam collects information about visitors who comment on sites that use the Akismet anti-spam service.

Data collected by Akismet typically includes the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and Site URL (along with other information directly provided by the commenter such as their name, username, email address, and the comment itself).

Jetpack’s privacy policy — they call it “Jetpack Privacy Center” — is here: jetpack.com/support/privacy/. Jetpack discusses cookies, and how Jetpack uses cookies, here: jetpack.com/support/cookies/.

Advertisements in the sidebar are handled by Igor Funa’s Ad Inserter: igorfuna.com/software/web/ad-inserter-wordpress-plugin. Ad Inserter collects technical data about Ad Inserter’s functions in this blog, which I don’t see.

I also use WebStat analytics: web-stat.com. WebStat’s privacy policy is here: web-stat.com/help_privacy_policy.htm. I collect no personal data from WebStat’s analytics.

Who I Share Your Data With

I don’t.

This blog’s analytics software collects data. So do some media and advertisements on this blog. Advertisers may share data they collect.

How Long this Blog Retains Your Data

If you leave a (non-spam) comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so this blog’s software and I can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

Where I send Your Data

Visitor comments are checked through the Akismet anti-spam service. (akismet.com) Akismet’s privacy policy is here: akismet.com/privacy/.

Data collected by Akismet typically includes the commenter’s IP address, user agent, referrer, and Site URL (along with other information directly provided by the commenter such as their name, username, email address, and the comment itself).


My Viewpoint, Contemporary Concerns

Big Cities, Small Towns and My Attitude

There’s some truth to the old joke about small towns: “if you can’t remember where you were today, ask someone. They’ll know.”

I’ve spent more than a third of a century in a small town. That may have influenced my attitude toward “privacy”.

On the other hand, I’ve lived in cities — and didn’t find myself craving even more anonymity than metropolitan areas provide.

A Right to be Forgotten?

I get the impression that “privacy” of one sort or another is highly prized these days:

There. That’s this blog’s privacy policy, and a brief look at my view of “privacy” in the context of today’s culture. This Privacy Policy was updated August 30, 2022.

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